Neal Duffy Elected Swampscott Select Board Chair

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — After six weeks of serving as interim chair of the Swampscott Select Board, Neal Duffy was unanimously voted as the new full-time chair Tuesday night.

Duffy, who served as vice-chair last year, took over the chair duties following the April 25 annual town election where former chair Polly Titcomb did not seek re-election.

Duffy was elected to the Select Board in 2020.

Prior to serving on the Select Board, Duffy was a town meeting member for nine years and served as the chair of the Renewable Energy Committee for six years. He also was a member of the Master Plan Committee, the Facilities Consolidation Task Force and the K-12 Task Force.

David Grishman, who was also elected to the Board in 2020, was chosen as this year's vice-chair.

"The one thing I have loved about this Select Board is you will see them rotate chairs every single year unless there is a year where somebody does not want to be the chair," said Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher, who was elected to her first term in April. "I think that other committees in town should start to think about that as well."

Peter Spellios served as the chair in 2020 before Titcomb — who declined to run for re-election and instead run for the open 8th Essex state representative position. Katie Phelan joins Fletcher as the two newest members of the Board with both elected in April.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)